This week, Anna Brown and I talk about our theme in the Living Joyfully Network this month, Validation. Diving deep into validation flows beautifully from last month’s theme of Stories because practicing validation with the people in our lives is about hearing, understanding, and accepting their stories as their truth in the moment. Our connections with our children grow stronger when they feel seen and heard and loved for who they are. Full stop. No ifs, ands, or buts.

And while validation helps our children move through their strong emotions and difficult moments, ALL kinds of moments are great opportunities to show our children that we understand and care about them. Validation is a key ingredient in the connected, respectful, and trusting relationships we see in unschooling families!

Discussion areas

• How sympathy, empathy, and validation weave together in our relationships.
• What validation looks like and the language we might use.
• When big emotions are involved, non-verbal validation can be so helpful.
• Ultimately, the goal of validation is connection.
• All moments with our kids are opportunities for validation!

Links to things mentioned in the episode

Check out and join the Living Joyfully Network here

RSA Animate’s video, Brene Brown on Empathy

Ring Theory, by Susan Silk and Barry Goldman

Transcript

Read the transcript

Video

Watch the YouTube video

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